A disgruntled employee took revenge on his bosses by stealing £20,000 of medical supplies and selling them on eBay.
Graham Rust had worked at the same firm for 24 years but felt his efforts were not recognised by his employers and started his own online business selling cut price items.
He was trapped by an internal inquiry by Alliance Healthcare in which investigators used specialist software to search eBay for items which matched those missing from their warehouse in Exeter.
The 50-year-old escaped jail but now faces having his assets seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the value of the goods he stole, most of which should have been distributed to Boots shops around the South West.
Rust, aged 50, of The Hollies, Rewe, near Tiverton, admitted theft and was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid community work by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, at Exeter Crown Court.
He told him:"You were unhappy with your employers but it almost makes things worse if this was done out of spite and revenge. This was despicable behaviour on your part."
Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said Rust worked as a clerk at the Alliance warehouse in Cofton Road, Exeter for 24 years and came under suspicion during an internal inquiry into missing stocks of glucose test strips.
The company's internal security team used specialist software to check eBay and found identical items being sold by an account called monkey01.
Miss Eagles said:"They made a test purchase and discovered that the Paypal account was in Rust's name and address. He was visited by police who found boxes of stolen products."
She said the goods which he could be shown to have stolen were worth £19,259.11 and the payments he received through eBay amounted to £8,569.20.
Rust was not represented but told the Judge he was a single father who was struggling to cope.
He said:"The money did help make a better life for me and my son but that is not why I did it. I am not the most dynamic person and all my life I have tended to be put upon and abused.
"That was the case with Alliance Healthcare. They had a very poor history. I would not have done it otherwise. It was not in my nature, it was just the place and the time."
